


Nearly Total Eclipse

by GotAnIssueHeresATissue



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Self Confidence Issues, Some Austin is in here too, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 12:04:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18571105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GotAnIssueHeresATissue/pseuds/GotAnIssueHeresATissue
Summary: Will is Camp Half-Blood’s best healer and he’s happy to help anyone and everyone, be it with injuries or matters of the heart by simply lending someone an ear. Sometimes though, sunny dispositions can get eclipsed by insecurities. Sometimes, he needs to be reminded that Will Solace, the son of Apollo is enough.**This has spoilers to basically the entire first Trials of Apollo book, The Hidden Oracle****Also contains some violence and gore, not much but I’m mentioning it anyway just in case****I do not benefit nor have any affiliation with the Smash Mouth song “I’m A Believer” or the DreamWorks movie “Shrek”**





	Nearly Total Eclipse

  After Apollo (as Lester Papadopoulos) and Meg McCaffrey had arrived at Camp Half-Blood, helped find the missing campers, meandered through a myrmekes nest, discovered Dodona’s Grove, defeated the Roman Emperor Nero, got betrayed by Meg, prevented an enormous nude statue that somewhat looked like Apollo’s god form from destroying the camp, and Leo arrived with Calypso on Festus and the four of them left to find the daughter of Demeter, everything finally went back to however normal a camp for demigods could be.

 

  It was also Friday, which meant Capture The Flag. The participating teams that week were the cabins of Ares, Aphrodite, Hades, Nemesis, Nike, Dionysus, Hebe, and Hypnos in Team One, versus the cabins of Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Hephaestus, Hermes, Iris, Tyche, and Hecate in Team Two.

 

  Everything went on as usual, from preparations up to when the game was under way, then everything turned to disaster. Team Two’s game plan was to pair up and launch multiple sneak attacks from all directions, and Will and Kayla had paired up. Of course, the blonde was a little disappointed being on opposing teams with Nico, but it had been a while since he and Kayla had teamed up in Capture The Flag. For the past few games, due to the respective head counselors’ influences, the Apollo and Hades cabins had allied themselves every time, so Nico had suggested being on opposite teams for once to spice things up.

 

  Although the game was dangerous, monsters rarely appeared at this part of the woods in Camp Half-Blood even with the entire forest being filled with them. The presence of such a large group of demigods were usually enough to keep the beasts away, but apparently one drakon had not been in the loop.

 

  The monster jumped them as the pair were meandering though the woods towards the enemy flag. It suddenly charged into them, head-butting them off their feet. It was not particularly large, but it had managed to take Will and Kayla by surprise. The drakon roared before spitting a stream of acid, and Will only had enough time to yell, “ROLL!” and do so before the ground where their bodies had just been was steaming and dissolving in a puddle of poison. They had rolled in away from each other, and once back on their feet, Kayla’s bow was drawn with an arrow nocked.

 

  “Will, I’ll hold it off, go get help!” She jerked her head towards the clearing behind them, where shouts were coming from the other campers who had heard the commotion.

 

  “Wait, Kayla!”

 

  Before Will could finish his sentence, Kayla let the arrow fly at the monster’s face where it bounced off its hard scales, just missing its eye. She took off running and the drakon growled in annoyance before bounding towards the girl. In one sound leap, it landed on the demigod with a sickening crack at the same time that Will let loose one of the most ear-splitting whistles he had ever produced. It caused the drakon to stumble off Kayla in a daze, and other campers started to arrive. The Ares kids made quick work of the drakon, attacking and scattering it into dust in less than a minute.

 

  Will immediately dashed over to his fallen half-sister and dropped to his knees beside her and picked up her hand. Kayla’s broken arm, ribs, and collapsed lung flowed into him while her pulse sped up as she went into shock. The blonde gently turned her over and pulled ambrosia and nectar from the bag slung over his shoulder at all times.

 

  ”Austin!” Will cried out. Austin was already running for the stretcher that leaned against a tree near the edge of the forest. Will started singing a hymn in Ancient Greek, and Austin joined in once he was back with the stretcher.

 

  Will fed her a trickle of nectar, and Kayla managed to get some down her throat but choked the rest out of her mouth in pained coughs that lightly convulsed her body. She was in too much pain to swallow the ambrosia, and her breathing was getting increasingly ragged. Desperation seeped into their song because by the time the two boys had secured her onto the stretcher, Kayla was passed out and her pulse was at a barely-there flutter.

 

  Their singing started to affect everyone around them as fear and anxiety laced the words. Connor Stoll burst into tears first, before the other demigods also began reacting to the despair in their voices and soon there was a group of sobbing demigods. The power of their voices even attracted some of the dryads from nearby trees, who came and joined the crying teenagers. The two sons of Apollo lifted the stretcher and Chiron parted the crowd, allowing them to make their way to the infirmary as quickly as possible where they pulled on their scrubs.

 

  Four hours of surgery and several stressful close calls later, their eyes strained from concentration and their voices were hoarse, but Kayla was finally stable. The worn out brothers shared a tight hug of comfort before Will sent the musician back to their cabin to sleep while he stayed to monitor. Austin tried to protest, but his tiredness and Will’s adamance won out. Once alone, Will pulled off the blood-stained gloves, collapsed into a chair, and buried his face in his hands, allowing himself to break down. Everything washed over him all at once as any residual adrenaline wore off, his exhaustion, relief, and realisation of how close he had been to losing his sister.

 

  Thoughts bounced around his head incessantly. If only he were a better fighter, he could have prevented Kayla from getting trampled by that drakon. If he had better battle instincts, if he had more strength, if he were a better archer, if he were just better. So what if he was the best healer in camp? That just meant people had to get hurt before his talents became useful. He felt so helpless. Will laced his fingers together and slid them into his blonde hair, before he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.

 

  “Damnit. Damnit…!” He grunted in frustration through clenched teeth.

 

  Little whimpers escaped Kayla’s throat as her body painfully mended itself, the sound pulling Will out of his dark train of thoughts. The blonde’s eyes snapped open and he immediately straightened up. He quickly dragged the chair beside Kayla’s bed and started to stroke her hair. Will’s voice was raspy, but he forced himself through one run of “I’m A Believer”, a song that had stuck itself in his head from when the Apollo cabin had watched the movie Shrek a couple of nights ago. Her face relaxed a bit, returning to a more peaceful expression.

 

  “She looks in better shape than you.”

 

  Will nearly jumped out out of his skin and whirled around in the chair to see Nico leaning against the wall by the door with folded arms. “Holy heart attack, Nico!” He said, putting a hand to his rapidly thumping heart to calm it.

 

  Nico snorted. “Really?”

 

  ”You sure as heck almost gave me one, don’t do that.” He glanced at the wall clock. “It’s almost one in the morning, what are you doing here?”

 

  The son of Hades dropped his arms and went to stand beside his boyfriend. He let his dark eyes rove over the blonde boy, down from his flip flops, trailing along the grass-stained surfer shorts and dried blood-splattered scrubs shirt, up to his tear-stained face with dull, slightly puffy eyes that were red from exhaustion and crying. His shaggy blond hair that was even messier than usual.

 

  Will’s hands fidgeted and he avoided eye contact, firmly fixing his gaze on Kayla. “Sorry, I’m kinda… don’t look my best right now.”

 

  “Nah. You’re still cute, in that I-just-performed-surgery way.”

 

  “Sorry I didn’t realise you were here before. How long were you standing there, anyway?”

 

  ”In here, by the door? Since a little after Austin left. I went back to my cabin to take a shower and stuff, but I was waiting just outside.” He stepped in front the blonde and put his hands on either side of Will’s face, gently tilting his face up to look at him.

 

  Will flinched out of his bewildered expression when Nico’s hands touched his face, and it melted into one of alarm as he leapt to his feet. He pressed his palms onto Nico’s neck and cheeks. “Gods, Nico di Angelo, you’re freezing, you syncopic idiot! Standing out in the cold for over four hours, are you trying to catch pneumonia??”

 

  Admittedly, Nico was a little cold and his nose might have started feeling a little stuffed, but he still rolled his eyes when Will pushed him into the chair he just got up from beside Kayla’s bed and fetched a blanket to wrap the brunette with. Will washed up as much as he could at the infirmary sink and sucked on a cough lozenge to soothe his roughed-up throat before preparing a steaming mug of hot chocolate embellished with two adorable little snowman-shaped marshmallows and pushed it into Nico’s hands, muttering about the brunette’s disregard for his health. This was incredibly typical of Will, the son of Hades had come to make sure Will was alright but here he was getting pampered by the healer instead.

 

  Nico huffed, sipping the hot drink while Will finally went to shower and change out of the blood-and-dirt-soiled clothes he had spent the last few hours in. Once he was out of the bathroom with his hair dried and dressed in a clean set of his usual clothes, the Italian placed the mug on Kayla’s bedside table and stood, folding the blanket and putting it on the chair. He went over to hug Will, burying his face in Will’s neck. Instantly, he was surrounded by the familiar waft of Will’s soap and shampoo, with a hint of minty toothpaste. Will reciprocated the embrace, wrapping an arm around Nico’s shoulders while the other hand laced through his dark hair and caressed his head.

 

  “It’s not your fault, you know.” Nico said against his throat.

 

  Will tensed. “If only I could-“

 

  ”No!” Nico interrupted, lifting his head to glare at the healer. “I knew you’d blame yourself, but don’t you dare. It was a good thing you were with her, Will. Your whistle helped us get to you right away, and your immediate medical attention saved her. If it had been with anyone else, things could have been a lot worse, so don’t you start with your ‘I wish I could fight, but I’m just a healer’ nonsense. You’re brave, and strong, and amazing, and you saved your sister’s life. In fact, you’ve saved a lot of lives in the past, including mine. I don’t know where I’d be if you hadn’t been there during the war with Gaea and made me stay. You’re needed here, exactly how you are.”

 

  Nico’s hands had slid upwards to rest on Will’s shoulders while he talked, and Will’s fingers were now clasped together around Nico’s waist.

 

  Some warmth returned the blonde’s tired eyes and cheeks, but mostly he was filled with adoration for the son of Hades standing in front of him. Will slowly started to lean down, when…

 

  “Aww…”

 

  Their attention snapped to the groaning Kayla who struggled to sit up, and Nico quickly tore away from Will, both their faces flushed scarlet.

 

  “Oh thank the gods, Kayla!” Will hurried over to her. “Don’t try to get up, you need to rest. How do you feel?”

 

  ”Like I got run over by a drakon. Oh wait.”

 

  “Funny, do you know how worried I was? Eat this before you go back to sleep.” Will put a square of ambrosia in her mouth since she wasn’t able to properly eat some earlier, then he gave her some water. “Can’t let you dehydrate. Vitals are fine, you’re recovering well. Do you need painkillers? Nah, just gave you ambrosia, maybe if you’re still in pain when you wake up again. Here, drink some more water.” He spoke to himself and Kayla at the same time.

 

  “He’s like the mom I never had,” Kayla smirked at Nico over Will’s shoulder and winked. Or winced from pain, the Italian wasn’t sure. “Sorry I interrupted your sweet little moment before, but he’s right, Will. It was a freak accident, and you really helped me out there by not letting me die and all.”

 

  Will sighed. “Okay, got it. Go back to sleep.”

 

  “He should say it out loud,” Nico piped up, and Will shot him exasperated glance.

 

  ”Good idea,” Kayla grinned,” go ahead.”

 

  Will ruffled his hair, uncomfortably flustered. “I-I already said I got it.”

 

  ”But I wanna hear you say ‘I, Will Solace, truly believe that it’s completely not my fault that Kayla Knowles got hurt in a freak drakon attack’, and you have to really mean it.”

 

  “Is this really necessary?” They both waited with expectant looks, and he rolled his blue eyes. “Fine, it wasn’t my fault, now go to sleep before I induce it.”

 

  Kayla pouted, then yawned. “I guess that’s as much as we’re gonna get tonight. You’re lucky I’m sleepy.” She shifted to lie back down and noticed the half-drunk hot chocolate on the beside table. “Whose is this?”

 

  ”It’s mine, sorry.” Nico moved the grab the drink.

 

  Kayla scoffed and settled into bed. ”Wow, Will, no favourites being played here. You don’t even let me and Austin at those snowman marshmallows!” She complained as Will pulled the blanket up to cover her. The red and green haired girl was asleep in seconds, having exhausted what little energy she had. It was a feat in itself that she even woke up so soon after the surgery.

 

  “So, I’m special, huh?” Nico’s smile was genuine as he shook the mug, and it set Will’s heart aflutter.

 

  “Of course. You heard what Kayla said about the marshmallows.” Will grinned, feeling most like his usual self for the first time that night. “Finish it up and go back to your cabin, you need to get some rest too.”

 

  Nico did so, chugging the rest of the hot chocolate and what was left of the marshmallows before soaking the mug in the sink, but instead of returning to his cabin, he went to grab Will’s hand and pulled him over to an empty infirmary bed.

 

  “What are you-“ Will started, but Nico shushed him and kicked off his shoes before climbing onto the bed.

 

  He dove under the thick blanket and lifted it up. “Come on. You’re the one who needs some rest.”

 

  Will took a step back. ”I have to keep an eye on Kayla.”

 

  ”You’ve already done all you can for tonight, and she’s recovering well, you said so yourself. You can’t possibly stay up the whole night after everything you’ve gone through tonight, Solace.”

 

  ”But, what if something happens? It’s still so soon after the surgery, someone needs to watch her..”

 

  ”I’ll get Jules-Albert to do it, he’ll wake us if anything happens.”

 

  “I’m not sure Kayla would appreciate waking up to a dead French guy watching her sleep.”

 

  “With how tired you are, you’re more zombified than he is. Now stop arguing and get your gluteus maximus into the bed, Blondie.”

 

  The corner of Will’s lips tugged into an amused smile. “I see you’ve been brushing up on your anatomy, di Angelo.”

 

  Nico smirked mischievously. “Yeah, so why don’t you come over here and teach me more about it?”

 

  Will laughed, but finally obliged and climbed into the bed. Nico immediately wrapped the blanket around them and lay his chin on Will’s chest. “Finally, my arm was getting sore.”

 

  ”Don’t you mean your brachium was getting sore?”

 

  Nico frowned. “Ugh, you nerd, I didn’t mean it literally when I said to get in bed and teach me more anatomy.”

 

  Will laughed again and Nico snuggled closer until he was practically lying on top of the blonde. The son of Hades tended to be a cuddler when they were alone, and Will found it to be extremely adorable. “Thanks for everything you said before, Nico. It meant a lot, and I’m so lucky to have you.”

 

  The brunette lightly pressed his lips onto Will’s, who returned it with such passion it left Nico breathless and blushing. Will was not usually so bold, normally letting Nico set the pace, but the Italian had to admit that a more assertive Will was definitely something he wouldn’t complain about.

 

  Despite the enthusiastic kiss, Will’s fatigue was coming in at full force now that he was comfortably in bed and bundled in a blanket with his boyfriend. He tried to fight the sleepiness, but his eyes were starting to close. Each time he blinked, it got harder to open them again.

 

  “Sleep.” Nico whispered into his ear.

 

  Will tried to say something, but his words trailed off into soft breathing as sleep consumed him. The son of Hades kissed his cheek. He knew that Will had some insecurities about his self-worth, and he would make sure to be there whenever Will needed reminding of how great he was. Nico summoned Jules-Albert to watch over Kayla before curling up against Will to go to sleep as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: the original “I’m a Believer” song was written by Neil Diamond lol!
> 
> If you have any criticisms on how I can do better, whether regarding technicalities or even just the writing style in general, please feel free to let me know in the comments or even through PM! I’m hungry for improvement :p


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